Bengt Bostrom, 71, organizes his medications at his home in Coppell, Texas. A failure to communicate all the prescriptions he was taking resulted in a life-threatening incident for Bostrom.

Written by

Nancy Churnin
The Dallas Morning News

A failure of communication proved to be life-threatening for Bengt Bostrom.

Bostrom, 71, of Coppell, Texas, went to his internist, Dr. Bradley Jones, to figure out why he was so exhausted. Bostrom was already being treated for prostate cancer, and a specialist had prescribed naproxen to help reduce swelling.

If Jones had known that, he'd have added a medicine to protect Bostrom's stomach. Instead, Jones didn't find out until he noted how unnaturally pale Bostrom was, ran tests and sent him to the hospital, where he required four units of blood to stabilize a bleeding ulcer. ...